JEFO_FAC_TRAX_70FA3018F00000701.pdf

Justification for Exception to Fair Opportunity Exceeding the SAT pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Recovery Technology Programs Division Public Assistance Technologies Program Management Office (PA PMO)

FEMA Applicant Case Tracker (FAC-TRAX)

Date: September 6, 2019 PR Number: WX03098Y2019T

1. Agency and Contracting Activity. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity.”

Federal Emergency Management Agency, Office of Chief Procurement Office, IT Section along with Recovery Technology Programs Division Public Assistance Technologies Program Management Office (PA PMO) prepared this justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

a) Type of action: Modification

b) Amount: $1,999,379.88

c) Type of Funding: Disaster Readiness and Support (DRS)

d) Year of funding: “No Year”

e) Other brief descriptive words and phrases:

DHS/FEMA/OCPO intends to award a modification to task order (TO) GS-06F- 0962Z/70FA3018F00000701 pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B). The additional effort increases the total value of the task order by approximately 50%.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s need (including the estimated value).

As part of FEMA’s Grants Management Modernization Initiative (GMMI), the Recovery Technology Programs Division (RTPD) Public Assistance Program Management Office (PA PMO) in partnership with PA Re-Engineering, identified capability gaps with tracking and managing grant services during recovery operations. To bridge these gaps, FEMA developed a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution in FY16, which is known today as the FEMA Applicant Case Tracker (FAC-TRAX). FAC-TRAX is a web-based enterprise solution that improves stakeholder collaboration and project tracking and case management for grant pre-award activities that occur prior to entering data into a grants management system. It also provides the functionality of creating disaster and applicant profiles to assess staffing needs, manage work load, and report the status of key milestones of the operation.

The deployment of FAC-TRAX has shown significant increases in effectiveness and efficiency of managing and delivering assistance to the public, providing transparency and accountability as well as reducing administrative and operational costs. As FEMA business intelligence evolves and source systems offer increased reporting and analytics capabilities, Recovery will continue to modernize FAC-TRAX towards making grant data available and through data federation and information sharing with other FEMA systems. FAC-TRAX is used by all disasters declared since the start of the 2017 Hurricane Season.

Currently, the Recovery Directorate is responding to the large scale disasters which occurred in 2017 and 2018 hurricane seasons which devastated several parts of the country. In addition, we are responding to increased disaster activity with the 2019 Hurricane Season, in particular Hurricane Dorian and other natural disasters across the United States and its Territories. To meet the urgent needs created by the disasters and to prevent a lapse in service it is critical that the period of performance be extended on the FAC-TRAX task order.

4. Identify the exception to fair opportunity and supporting rationale, including a demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited:

__________FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(A). The agency need for the supplies or services is so urgent that providing a fair opportunity would result in unacceptable delays.

_____X____FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B). Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized. [The justification must demonstrate that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the exception cited].

_________FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C). The order must be issue on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order. [For logical follow-on, the rationale shall describe why the relationship between the initial order and the follow-on is logical (e.g., in terms of scope, period of performance, or value)]:

_________FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(D). It is necessary to place an order to satisfy a minimum guarantee.

_________FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(E). For orders exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, a statute expressly authorizes or requires that the purchase be made from a specified source.

Rationale:

To meet the DHS and FEMA requirements for disaster response and recovery work, the most expeditious strategy is to leverage FEMA’s FAC-TRAX task order by extending the period of performance and increasing the total value by 50%. FAC-TRAX is critical to our responses in all of the Public Assistance disaster activities as all of the PA grant award work is done within the system.

If an extension was not pursued it would have severe and negative impacts to FEMA, more specifically, an inability to increase capacity or make system changes that would result in: (1) weak internal controls, and commensurate risk of fraud, waste and abuse (at a time when FEMA is going to award over $40B over the next few years); (2) diminished ability to persue the agency’s strategic goals including reducing complexity and prioritizing 428; (3) diminished ability to strategically manage resources and (4) ultimately, significant increase in negative user and non-HQ leadership feedback.

Only the awardee is currently capable of providing the services required at the level of quality required because the services ordered are unique or highly specialized. The FAC-TRAX system was developed by awardee at government expense, and awardee is uniquely qualified to maintain this legacy system until the Government awards a competed award in FY 20.

5. Determination by the contracting officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

In their technical evaluation the program office found the Level of Effort proposed consistent to the efforts required to complete the requirements in the PWS. Pricing was consistent to Chainbridge’s 8(a) STARS II contract GS-06F-0962Z and to historical costs experienced by FEMA under previous FAC-TRAX contracts. As a result, the Contracting Officer determined that the anticipated cost to the Government is fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 8.404(d) and FAR 15.404(b)(2)(ii)&(v).

6. Any other facts supporting the justification.

N/A

7. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the exception to fair opportunity before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

This action extends the period of performance a total of 6-months. During this period of time, the contractor will be working to deliver final deliverables and transition code to the Government.

FEMA will be positioned to re-compete the FAC-TRAX task order in FY 20, and intends to provide for fair opportunity at that time.

8. DHS intends to post this requirement on FedBizOpps pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(D).

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Recovery Technology Programs Division

Public Assistance Technologies Program Management Office (PA PMO) FEMA Applicant Case Tracker (FAC-TRAX)

9. Technical/Requirements Personnel Certification.

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(9), I certify that this requirement meets the Government’s minimum need and that the supporting data, which form a basis for the justification, are accurate and complete.

Technical Representative/COR Date

10. Contracting Officer Certification and Approval *

Pursuant to FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B)(8), I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief and hereby determine that the circumstances for an exception to fair opportunity exist:

Not exceeding $700,000 Date Contracting Officer

*Note: In accordance with FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(C)(1), proposed orders with an estimated value exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold, but not exceeding $650,000, the ordering activity contracting officer’s certification that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of the ordering activity contracting officer’s knowledge and belief will serve as approval. For OPO, the contracting officer should sign each justification prior to approval by the next higher level (e.g., Competition Advocate, HCA, and/or CPO).

11. Approval.

Over $700,000 but not exceeding $13 million Date Component Competition Advocate

09/06/2019